UPDATE- truck works- made money! YAY!

My truck needs a lot,l i mean a lot, or power to crank, and won't start without a BIG jump. . . i replaced the starter motor, and the battery cables, and cleaned every connection i could find between the solenoid and the starter. i don't think it's in the ignition in the steering column. . .
could my problem be a bad solenoid?

Did this starter used to start your truck with ease and all the sudden did this? Or did you just put this starter in and it does this? If you just put it in then it's probably the wrong starter, high rpm's and low torque, not low rpm's and high torque like it should be.

I went through this with a new autozone starter for a few days, it would barely turn my 454 over and they kept telling me it was my battery so I finally gave up on them and went to a different autozone and got them to check the starter and sure enough it was the wrong one...

But, if this all the sudden happend, and your battery has been checked by a battery tester and shows good, I would check the starter and ground wire. The wire could be corroded inside under the jacket where you can't see it. Also make sure your engine ground cable is good as well as your battery ground.

this happened all of the sudden. i have run a ground directly to the bottom of the starter. i have tried different batteries, and it took two cars at once to jump me last time, and trhat took an hour of trying. i can't find any bad connections. i'm thinking there is something in my ignition, it there any way i can bypass the solenoid, or the ignition, to the starter is a simple on/off and i can have a toggle switch? ANY ideas . . .PLEASE!!!!!!!

If you tried different batteries than rule that out.
If you turn the key and the starter engages or tries to engage than rule out the ignition. I doubt very much you have an ignition problem.
Check your + lead from battery to starter check for breaks or corrosion.
Check your - from battery to alt bracket for good connection.
If that fails my guess is that your starter puked.
Gm starters are noted to act like a dead battery when they puke.
My money is on a bad starter.

The only thing between the starter and the battery is the contact set in the solenoid. The ignition switch only supplies power to the coil in the solenoid, so since the solenoid is engaging, then the switch and it's wiring can be ruled out. You don't need a ground wire to the starter, as it gets its ground through being bolted to the engine block.

Things to check: Remove each battery cable at the battery and check that there is no corrosion under the cable lugs. Look carefully at the cable ends for any sign of corrosion inside the wire. A battery cable can look OK from the outside, but be corroded internally. This will greatly reduce its ability to carry large currents. Make sure the end of the ground cable from the battery is solidly connected to a clean spot on the engine. It's possible that the contacts in the solenoid are in bad enough shape to have a limited current capacity, but I would check the other things first.

I had a similar problem not to long ago. I swapped starters two or three times, tried different batteries, and when I would jump it off it got to were it was taking more and more juice to start. My problem wound up being in the wiring harness coming down to the starter. What was happening, was the more I jumped it off the more the wires would melt and burn together. I pulled the tape/plastic back and rewired from the bad spot down. As soon as I was done the truck fired up with no problems. I have since replaced the whole wiring harness. /forums/images/graemlins/pimp1.gif

well there goes the dignity . . i am taking it to the shop today, let them figure it out, my t-case is dropped so it's impossible to follow those cables back very far. i hot iwred it, and nothing. i want to find out, from the outside of the solenoid, is there any thing i can connect, or short out, to get the starter to turn over without the ignition. if i can do that then maybe i can make a push-button starter. maybe run a current through the positive to the ignition wires? I know there is someway, because the ignition does it somehow.

also, maybe thwe problem isn't electrical- i have had the truck sitting for a while, maybe 3 months, could the flywheel or flexpate have developed rust and be rubbing on sometinh, is there something in the engine that could be causing too much poressure for the starter to turn over easily? maybe something in the engine? thanks

Well I've concluded that the problem is NOT electrical. I ran the jumper battery to the positive terminal on the starter, and the negative to the bottom of the starter itself. Then i bypassed the entire electrical system and jumped the solenoid. Is there suppoesed to be oil or something where the flywheel is? What could be causing this? My truck runs great once it starts, but turning over is nearly impossible. could something be rubbing the flywheel? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF IS WRONG HELP ME!!!!

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